Daz3D - Nail & Skin Color

[slightchance]

I've got a standard 8.1 model and I am trying to change color of the nails without affecting the attached skin. The nail itself isn't just made of the keratin part but grouped together with small bits of skin (eponychium etc.) which change color too via SSS or Glossy color. It's colored by default which looks ridiculous zoomed in.

I am able to mask out the fleshy parts but I can't match it to the skin tone of the hand/finger. The only idea I've got left is to draw different nails over the original G8FBaseArmsMapD_1004 file.

The reason why I am doing this is to learn the details and limits of the software so I don't need to rely on presets all the time.

 

[Rich]

One way you might consider doing this is with the Layered Image Editor (LIE). If you go into the "Arms" surface and click on on the image in the "Base Color" channel, one of the items in the (possibly very large) popup will be "Layered Image Editor." Here, you can install a second image (needs to have transparency, so probably PNG is best) that will overlay the arms texture. If you create an image that has color just where the nails are (use the existing G8FBaseArmsMapD_1004 as a reference), that will effectively replace the color in just those spots. Or influence them, if the image you use isn't 100% opaque on the nails.

Essentially, this would be like taking PhotoShop, opening up the G8FBaseArmsMapD_1004 file and adding a new layer on top of it.

This is the way that many "make up" packages work - they essentially overlay the blush, eyeshadow, etc., on top of the face. Ditto packages that add tattoos to existing characters.

So, effectively, you are "drawing over" it, but you don't need to actually modify the G8FBaseArmsMapD_1004 file, and the same file can (theoretically) be used on characters other than the G8F base.

This technique works on the other image-based channels as well.

 

[slightchance]

One way you might consider doing this is with the Layered Image Editor (LIE).

I've tried it out but that doesn't seem to do the trick. The parts that I don't paint over are standing out like a sore thumb. I probably have to change the original file to my liking. I don't know why they've included the skin in the first place. That's some horrid manicure. Only the lunule (the white half moon of the nail) should be visible, in my opinion.

At least I know now how to use the LIE and when not to. Thank you!

 

[Rich]

I've tried it out but that doesn't seem to do the trick. The parts that I don't paint over are standing out like a sore thumb. I probably have to change the original file to my liking. I don't know why they've included the skin in the first place. That's some horrid manicure. Only the lunule (the white half moon of the nail) should be visible, in my opinion.

At least I know now how to use the LIE and when not to. Thank you!

Ah. I guess I misunderstood what it was you were trying to correct. Well, whatever works. Making an entire replacement texture for the G8FBaseArmsMapD_1004 texture is, of course, an alternate approach.

Best of luck with it!